Man rescued after Bondi cliff fall

Eamonn Duff

A Sydney bodybuilding celebrity was the subject of a dramatic rescue operation today after he plunged more than five metres down a cliff.

At approximately 2.15pm, paramedics were called to Ben Buckler Point, located at the northern tip of Bondi Beach, where Dimitri Maskovich had fallen whilst climbing the same rope he had scaled hundreds of times previously.

According to police reports, the rope broke and local identity crashed to the rock base below. Crowds of onlookers watched on as Bondi lifeguards joined police and paramedics to help stabilise Mr Maskovich.

Suffering serious leg injuries and suspected fractures, the 48 year old was delicately winched back up to the roadside and transported to St Vincents Hospital.

Self-proclaimed former agent in the Soviet special forces: Dimitri Maskovich. Photo: Supplied

‘‘We called the helicopter but the difficulty in those sorts of situations is getting the patient back up to the road," said an ambulance Service of NSW spokesman.

‘‘On this occasion, the special operations paramedic team were able to use a rope and cradle board to carefully lift the patient up to the road."

Mr Maskovich is a self-proclaimed former agent in the Soviet special forces but Bondi locals have come to know him as the head of a small army of male fitness fanatics who frequent the outdoor gym near North Bondi Surf Club.

When he’s not leading press ups at the popular fitness spot, he can often be found scaling the Ben Buckler rope, on which he posed for a 2010 ‘Rope for Hope’ photo calendar which raised money for African AIDS orphans.